Waiting
by BrynnH87
Summary: Jim is waiting for Blair to wake up and forgive him for allowing him to get this injured. The prologue could be read and enjoyed as a complete, albeit very short, story on its own. Once you continue on to Chapter 1, they pretty much end on cliffies.
1. Prologue

Title: Waiting

Author: Brynn H

A/N: Thanks to Punky for the lightning beta.

A/N: NOT a death story, don't worry. I drew a picture of a beat up Blair for dues on the Sentinel Angst list, and several people asked me to write a story to go with it. Here's the start of that story. A good bit of violence involved in the story, but not necessarily this part. Even when it shows up, it won't be all that graphic. This part is REALLY short, but more should be coming soon.

Waiting

Prologue:

He pulled his robe tightly around his shoulders as he sat in a wheelchair beside Blair's hospital bed. He had obtained the doctor's permission for only a ten minute visit since he, himself, was injured. He went in for surgery tomorrow morning to repair the bone damage caused by a through and through to his lower leg. He had gotten off easy compared to Blair. He gently clasped his friend's limp left hand, careful of the pulse-ox monitor and the IV. Blair's face was practically unrecognizable. His eyes, cheeks, and nose were masses of blue, purple and black; his jaw was broken and wired shut; and, his tangle of curls was completely obscured by a stark white bandage.

Jim stared, almost zoned, on the rise and fall of Blair's chest that matched the "whoosh-chunk" of the respirator. Blair's lungs had collapsed, having been punctured by some of the many broken ribs. Blair had undergone surgery to wire and pin his ribs back together, and to repair his lungs, and he was now on a respirator while his weakened lungs healed. Due to Blair's wired jaw, the doctors had had to perform a tracheotomy to provide the assistance his lungs so dearly needed. Jim's gaze moved briefly to the offending object at the base of his friend's throat, but quickly moved away.

There was nowhere the sentinel could look that didn't remind him of just how completely he had failed his guide. The cast on Blair's right arm, the splints on two of his fingers, the bruised chest peaking out from the bandages, all seemed to scream to Jim, "Some blessed protector you are," and "He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," and a thousand other epithets that the sentinel didn't want to hear.

He closed his eyes, lowered his head and waited. Waited to be whisked away by the nurse when his ten minutes were up; waited to rise in the morning to find that this had all be a nightmare; waited for his friend to forgive him. But mostly, he just waited for his friend to wake up.


	2. Chapter 1

Title: Waiting (Chapter 1)

Author: Brynn H

A/N: While the Prologue could be read and enjoyed by itself as a complete story, the parts from now on can't. Violence mentioned but not really very graphically.

Thanks: to my beta Punky.

Waiting, Chapter 1

- Two days previous –

"No Jim. Absolutely not!" Blair pushed his errant curls out of his face. "Dropping by Wonder Burger on your way home is _not_ an acceptable way of providing dinner when it's your night to cook."

"Chief, come on. Cut me a break, here." Jim placed the dish rag on the sink to dry, wiped his hands (stealing the dish towel from Blair to do so), and started getting ready to leave for work. "I've got to write up the paperwork on the case we just finished, then meet with the DA about the Thompson case before the trial this afternoon. Who knows how long that will take? My testimony will make or break this case and you know how the DA likes to go over everything beforehand…and over…and over… and over. Then I have to go to the actual trial. You know how that is. I get to sit around all day for a ten minute appearance. I'm really not expecting to get out of there until almost dinner time, if not later. And I'm already running on empty here, Chief. I haven't slept well in…"

"Geez, alright Jim." Blair said with mock exasperation retrieving the dish towel from the counter where Jim had tossed it. "If you wanted to switch cooking nights, all you needed to do was ask." Blair had known about Jim's busy schedule and had really planned to cook anyway, but couldn't resist giving his friend a hard time. "Of course, that means that you owe me a _spectacular_ meal tomorrow!"

"Done, chief. I promise." Jim then smirked as he opened the apartment door. "I'll _supersize_ your order of Wonder Burger."

Blair threw the dish towel in Jim's general direction, but the taller man hurried through the doorway, dodging it easily.

------------

Blair loaded the groceries needed for that night's dinner into his car in the wide alley behind his favorite health food store. Parking there was much easier than finding a parking place on the street, and he shopped there so often that the owner had told Blair to feel free to park there any time he wanted.

He was lost in thought about that night's menu when a dark blue sedan zoomed down the alley close enough to Blair's Volvo to trap its owner between the cars. A giant of a man jumped out of the back seat, grabbed Blair, and disappeared back into the car.

------------

The store owner heard the commotion and came out the side door just in time to see the sedan clip the front bumper of Blair's car in its hurry to exit the alley. By the time the aged proprietor rounded the corner, the car was nowhere to be found.

He rifled through his pockets searching for his cell phone, finally grateful that his grand-daughter had insisted he not only carry the infernal thing, but learn to use it as well. He finally found it, flipped it open and dialed the number of the Cascade Police Department. He knew Blair worked there as a consultant or something, and he thought the young man's partner would want to know about this. He figured that calling 911 at this point wouldn't do nearly as much good as calling the PD directly.

"Cascade Police Department," the switchboard operator answered.

"This is Sam Johnson at Nature's Finest Health Food Store." The elderly man began. "I need to speak to Jim Ellison."


	3. Chapter 2

Title: Waiting

Author: Brynn H

Warnings: Mentions of violence. Bad language.

A/N: Thanks much to Punky for the lightening beta.

Waiting: Chapter 2

Jim was in the DA's office, going over – yet again – his testimony for the upcoming case. His cell phone rang, and once he saw who the caller was, he knew he'd have a good excuse to take it, and get out of the incessant drilling – if only for a short time.

"Yeah, Simon." Jim answered just a bit too enthusiastically. His mood was dulled considerably, though, once he heard his captain's voice.

"Jim," The caller's voice was serious and hesitant. "We just got a call from the owner of that health food store Sandburg likes so much." Just when the silence was getting to be too much for Jim, Simon continued. "The kid was kidnapped about forty-five minutes ago, Jim."

"I'm on my way to the scene."

Jim slammed his cell phone closed before he heard Simon say, "The hell you are! You stay right where you are!"

Jim wasn't even as far as the elevator when his phone rang again. Glancing at the screen, he jerked it open and yelled. "Chief?!"

A mechanically distorted voice answered instead. "If you mean your little hippy friend, he's a bit tied up at the moment. Watch the video we sent," and the line went dead.

Jim fumbled around, trying to figure out how to access the video, only to about half wish he hadn't, once he saw the contents. A struggling Blair lay in the back seat of a car that sped through the city streets. A large guy with a mask restrained him while a second, just as large, punched his face and stomach. Blair's hands and feet were duct-taped but he still managed to land a couple of pretty impressive kicks and to yell at the kidnappers invectives that Jim hadn't even realized that the kid knew.

Since the angle of the video suggested that the camera-man was sitting in the passenger's seat, it clearly showed two men in the back with Blair, and presumably someone one driving, Jim decided there were at least four future dead men involved in the abduction of his friend.

_____

By this time, the DA had caught up with Jim at the elevator. "Where the hell do you think you're going? The trial starts in half an hour."

"Well then, it'll have to start without me!" Jim pushed past her and stepped into the elevator. "My partner is in trouble, and there's no way in hell that I'm going to sit on my ass in a courtroom while he's being beaten!"

District Attorney Sara Anderson had managed to squeeze past the rapidly closing elevator doors and tried various avenues of reasoning on the way down. Jim had a random thought that if she didn't realize that Jim was already past all reason – that he always was when Blair was in danger – then she really didn't know him very well at all.

Fortunately, Jim thought, the opening doors revealed someone who _did_ know him well.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Simon unknowingly mimicked Sara's words. Taken aback, Jim thought that maybe Simon didn't know him as well as Jim had thought he did. So, maybe _not_ so fortunate that Simon had shown up at just that moment.

"Strike that," Simon continued, "I know _just_ where you _think_ you're going."

"Simon, Blair's…"

"I _know_! _I_ told _you_! Remember? Rafe and Brown are already on their way to the scene – probably even there by now – and _they'll_ handle this. _You_ have a murdering pedophile to put away! Or did you forget that your testimony is pivotal in this case? Without you here, that creep is going to walk!"

Jim grabbed Simon's arms, but managed – just barely – to keep himself from throwing the man against the nearest wall. "I _know_ it, god damn it, but this is Blair, and I'll be damned…"

"If you don't get your hands off of me this _second_, detective, I'll damn you hell myself!"

Jim dropped his hands as though he was burned and he even managed to look a little contrite. His voice calmed considerably as he explained. "He's being beaten, Simon. They sent me a video file." Simon's face softened only a little as Jim pleaded, "This is Blair!"

"…who is being searched for as we speak, and who _will_ be rescued, while you wait to testify." After observing Jim's still stubborn face, Simon went on. "You're not the only good cop on the force, Jim. We'll find him and he _will_ understand why you couldn't be there."

"Don't make me quit, Simon," Jim said through a clenched jaw.

"Don't make me _fire_ your ass!" Simon countered. "Get to the court room now, detective."

Jim considered just quitting anyway and going after Blair, but he knew his friend wouldn't want to be the cause of a child killer going free. After a long internal debate that played out on the big man's face, he finally sent the video file to Simon's phone so the clues from that could be used to find Blair, and Jim stabbed the 'up' button for the elevator.

"I'll go, for now." Jim explained, "but if he's not found in half an hour…"

The elevator arrived and Jim stepped on, leaving the threat unfinished. Simon, for his part, decided just to let Jim think he had a choice in this…for the time being, at least. He could always disillusion him later, if necessary. For now, Simon just prayed that Rafe and Brown were as good as he'd told Jim they were, and that they'd find Blair before another showdown with Jim became necessary. Just in case, though, Simon forwarded the file on to Joel, called him to put him in charge of the investigation and took the next elevator to be with Jim in the courtroom. If his men didn't find Blair, someone had to be there to keep Jim from leaving the courtroom before the child-killer was brought to justice. Simon couldn't think of anyone else that even had a hope of stopping Jim, so he declared himself on watch-dog duty for the duration of the trial.

TBC


	4. Chapter 3

Waiting: Chapter 3

Jim was royally pissed. He had been sitting in the courtroom waiting for time for the trial to start while his partner was god knows where, having god knows what done to him. Simon had called Joel to check on the progress of the investigation, but there was none. They knew Blair had been pulled into a blue car because of the paint chips on the young man's car, but Jim could have told them that from the video. He could see the color and a suggestion of the style of the car through the back window. They knew which direction the car had been heading, but Jim could have told them that too, from the street signs he had seen buzz by on the video. There was no blood found at the scene, so it was assumed that the abduction was not violent. Jim could have – in fact _did_ tell them – that the violence was saved for after they had Blair tied up and their escape was well underway.

With ten minutes left until the trial was to start, the seats started to fill up in the court room. A man in the very back had taken his seat, waited a couple of minutes, and exited again. Jim subconsciously took all this in, however most of Jim's mind was focused on the phone in his hand where he was going over and over the video of his best friend being beaten. He had already called Joel – twice – to make sure that he had noticed the street names that sped by, so as to concentrate the search along that line. After tracing the car past the last street shown in the video, the investigation hit a standstill. There was literally no indication of Blair or the car in which he had been abducted.

Just when Jim was ready to take off – against Simon's orders – to find Blair himself, his phone vibrated in his hand. The call was from Blair's phone again, but he didn't even let himself _hope_ that it would actually be his friend's voice on the line.

"What!" He barked.

"Are you enjoying our little video?" The mechanical voice asked. "Watching our masterpiece over and over isn't going to find your partner."

"How did you…" Jim looked around the courtroom as though trying to find the speaker. He saw a man re-enter the court and retake his seat. Jim knew it was the man who had left before, but he couldn't be sure he had anything to do with the phone call.

"Why aren't you looking for him, Ellison? Did we pick the wrong person? See the attached video for a little more incentive."

The caller hung up and Jim scrambled for the video. Blair was sitting in a chair in what seemed to be a little used, run-down office. His arms, legs and torso were duct-taped to the wobbly piece of furniture. What appeared to be the same two men continued to beat on Sandburg, even thought the kid's face was already a mass of new bruises just rising to the surface. His lip and nose were bleeding and his left eye was well on its way to being swollen shut.

The mechanical voice was back, on the video this time. "Let's show Ellison we mean business," it said, as though Jim didn't know that by what he had already been shown.

The two men stopped hitting Blair. One grabbed the kid from behind – holding him still in the chair -while the other wielded a large, heavy metal pipe that seemed to have materialized from nowhere. As he brought it down repeatedly upon Blair's knuckles where they were molded over the end of the chair arm, Jim heard his partner scream for the first time. (He had borne the beating up until now in relative silence). It was a sound Jim hoped he never had to hear again.

Apparently the man brandishing the weapon didn't want to hear it either because he swung the pipe into Blair's jaw and shouted, "Shut up you little wuss, or I'll give you something to scream about."

Jim had unconsciously turned up his hearing to check for broken bones when the man had been demolishing Blair's hand. He had heard multiple bones crack then, and he heard another one now.

The thugs on the video cut Blair loose from the chair, rebound his hands, and dragged him through the doorway behind the chair. They hung him up by his bound hands on what appeared to be a meat hook, and the pipe materialized again – this time slamming into the kid's ribs.

"If you're still there when the case starts, he dies."

"That's it!"Jim exclaimed, as he jerked to a stand and started toward the center aisle.

Simon grabbed his arm. "Jim, sit down."

"This is all about _this case_, Simon!" Jim exploded, still looking around the room. "They're going to kill Blair if I'm still here when the case starts." Simon stood in Jim's way, not convinced.

"You know this wouldn't be beyond Thompson, Simon." Jim countered. "He's got enough ties that he could easily get henchmen to do this. He's into drugs, child sex trade, hell, probably half a dozen things we don't even know about. The only thing we can pin on him is these child murders and he doesn't want that. Imagine that! So, he kidnaps my partner and tortures him until I leave the trial. _Tortures_ him, Simon!" Jim finally just pushed past Simon. "I'm not sitting here and letting that happen!"

He dismissed Simon, then, and addressed the DA. "Sara, get the cast postponed or just use my avadavat. I'm out of here."

"The avadavat isn't enough, Jim." Sara started. "You need to be here for cross-examination, or our case just isn't as strong."

"Then get it postponed." At this point, Jim was yelling, "I'm leaving. If the creep walks, I'll gun him down myself. I'm not letting Blair get hurt anymore because of me."

Jim strode out of the courtroom, Simon close behind him. Not a minute after the raucous exit of her only chance of winning this case, the DA saw Thompson and his lawyer enter. From the doorway he glanced at Jim's recently vacated seat, then, as he passed the back row of seats, he exchanged a knowing look and a nod with a man sitting there and continued walking down the center aisle with a smirk.

TBC


	5. Chapter 4

Waiting Chapter 4

Jim marched deliberately toward the elevator, making his strides even more determined when he heard Simon behind him. Standing side by side at the elevator, however, forced Jim to acknowledge the company.

"Save it Simon," He pre-empted, "Fire me if you have to. I'm going to get Blair."

"You're playing right into their hand, you know."

Jim turned savagely, "I don't care!"

"I just mean that _if_ you happen to find Blair, and _if_ they don't just kill him anyway to keep him from identifying them, do you really believe they don't have orders to kill you on sight?"

"I really believe I don't care!" Jim stepped into the elevator and was followed by Simon.

"I can't believe they've gone to all this trouble only to have the case postponed and have you testify another day."

"I don't…"

"…care! I know! But _I_ do! And _Blair_ does!" Simon still tried to reason with Jim. "If you go in there half-cocked, with blood in your eyes, all you're going to succeed in doing is getting killed along-side Sandburg."

As Jim exited the elevator and started toward the parking garage, he clipped. "I don't plan on going in half-cocked. Out for blood, yes, but not without a plan. If I hadn't had to talk to you all the way down, I was going to use the elevator ride to call for backup."

"You know where you're going?" Simon was genuinely surprised.

That stopped Jim for a second. "Of _course_ I know where I'm going!" He resumed his progress toward the parking garage. "They're in an old warehouse. I thought it was an abandoned office building at first. They had him taped to an old office chair and I saw a desk in the background. But they moved him in the video. When they left the office, they took him to a large room with what looked to be meat hooks on the ceiling. They lowered one and hung him up on it, and started beating him again…with a pipe!"

"That doesn't really narrow it down that much. I can think of three abandoned warehouses that might have had meat hooks, just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more."

"Maybe. But most of them are in the warehouse district, so that narrows it down a little." Jim argued. "And," he said as he reached the parking garage and started toward his truck, "I'm sure not all of them have a view of St. Peter's church."

Simon stared blankly and stopped, amazed when Jim stopped briefly too. "How do you know that it has a view of…"

"I saw the spire through the warehouse window behind Blair." Jim then continued more softly. "I can find him Simon… I _have_ to find him."

Simon started moving again, but toward his own car, pulling Jim with him with his voice. "I'll drive Jim. We'll find him, but if you drive right now, you'll just wrap yourself around a telephone pole or something. Hell, I don't know how you keep from doing that on a _good_ day, with the way you drive, but today…"

"Fine. Whatever." Jim started toward Simon's car. With Simon driving, he could study the video some more and narrow down the search even farther. "But don't drive like a grandmother; Blair really needs us Simon."

-------

Simon sped through the city streets at a velocity that made Jim proud. Ellison had just ended a call to Rafe and Brown to have them meet them in the warehouse district when Jim's phone rang in his hand.

"Please let it really be Blair," Jim whispered before he answered the phone.

"Call your lawyer, Ellison." The mechanical voice started up. "It doesn't do us any good for you to leave if they just postpone the trial. The lawyers have been in the judge's chambers since just after you left. If the trial is postponed, the kid dies."

"I can't influence what the judge might decide," Jim said, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. "I'm just a witness."

"Well, you better figure out a way, because the hippie dies otherwise." The phone call ended and a tone sounded on the phone to indicate a new video. Jim hesitantly opened the file. As bad as Blair looked in the last video, Jim didn't really want to see any more. He was right. They had the kid strung up on the meat hook, still, and were beating him with the pipe, again. Jim saw, and heard, the pipe impact Sandburg's head and ribs, several times. Jim turned up his hearing to concentrate on his friend's breathing. It wasn't good. Jim figured that that last blow collapsed a lung. Blair was wheezing, and was now unconscious. With his hearing up, Jim heard a train pass the warehouse, just as the thugs slammed the pipe into Blair's elbow. The sentinel tried to focus on the train, and not the cracking bone.

"Simon, there's a train in the background, and I can see a street sign." Jim zeroed in on what he could see through the window. "He's west of St. Peter's, just off of Third Street, near the railroad track."

Simon swung left at the next intersection, and poured on the speed. "Call Rafe and Brown and have them meet us there. Tell them what the time stamp was when you heard the train. Maybe we can narrow it down even more."

Jim opened the phone to do just that and then called the DA just in case, and thought, "Hang on Blair. We're coming."


	6. Chapter 5

Waiting: Chapter 5

Simon and Jim approached the warehouse in their car as Rafe and Brown approached from the other side in theirs. Both cars had their sirens off, as did the black and white unit they had called for further backup. Simon glanced over toward the passenger seat and noticed that Jim had his head cocked, as though listening to something.

Mindful of his friend's sensitive hearing, Simon whispered, "Anything?"

"He's in there, Simon." Jim looked distressed. "His heartbeat is a little slow, but it's steady so far; his breathing is _awful_ though."

"How many are in there, and where?" Simon, always the policeman, wanted to know.

"Three," Jim answered, "all in the same room as Blair, as far as I can tell. Two really close to him; one farther away." Jim listened again. "Doesn't sound like they're hitting him right now, at least."

Simon relayed this information to Rafe and Brown – who had long since stopped asking how he knew these things – and all started to get into position to await Simon's signal. Jim was chomping at the bit, telling Simon – repeatedly – that Blair's breathing was getting worse. Simon wanted to wait until all three units were in optimal positions.

Finally, though, Jim heard something that wouldn't allow him to wait anymore. "They're getting ready to tape again, Simon," the detective said frantically. "Sara must have gotten the case postponed after all," and Jim was gone.

"Move in," Simon called urgently as he followed Jim, "Move in!"

By the time Simon breached the main door of the warehouse, Jim was already zeroing in on Blair and the perps. Once they were close enough that even Simon could hear one of the men say, "Start the tape," everything started to move quite rapidly.

Jim burst through the door to the large room, followed closely by Simon. Both had guns at the ready and were yelling identifications. The kidnapper nearest Blair held the pipe and was in mid-swing. Before he could connect with Blair's head again, Jim took aim and shot. The other man relatively close to Blair immediately raised his hands in submission, obviously terrified of being shot.

Out of nowhere, the third man produced a gun and fired at Jim. The sentinel's legs fell from beneath him, even as both he and Simon returned fire. Jim's shot went wild as the gunman's second bullet hit home as well, just before Simon's round dropped the perp.

Because they had not had sufficient time to get into position, Rafe and Brown were just now coming through the back entrance to the room. Rafe verified that the gunman was dead and moved on to check the injured one. Brown cuffed the craven kidnapper who was still in the same place that Simon and Jim had found him.

"Man, Captain Courageous," Brown remarked to the perp, "How did _you _get picked for this job? We're probably gonna have to stop on the way to get you some new pants!"

The two uniformed officers finally arrived and took custody of the kidnappers. Rafe found the control that would lower the meat hook and Brown carefully gathered Blair's lowering body into his waiting arms. Rafe gently lifted the kid's bound arms from the hook, placed them on the injured man's chest and gingerly cut the duct tape to unbind them. All the while, the partners exchanged looks that clearly said, "Are we certain the kid is even still alive?" Rafe pressed his fingers to Blair's carotid artery and nodded his answer.

Meanwhile, Simon had gone to the side of his fallen detective. "How bad is it, Jim?"

"Two gunshots to the leg." Jim answered, trying for nonchalant, but not quite making it. "I'll be fine."

Simon had taken out his clean handkerchief and reached for Jim's leg when he noticed the rapidly growing puddle of bright red blood under the sentinel's right leg.

"You're _not _fine, Jim," Simon retorted. "One of those bullets hit the femoral artery."

"Is that your professional opinion, Dr. Banks?" Jim got _really _testy when he was hurt.

"I don't need to be a doctor to know that nothing else in the leg would bleed that much, that fast."

"I'm going to Blair," Jim started to try to rise but Simon gently restrained him.

"No you're not. Hold this on your thigh."

The captain called over to Brown before Jim could interrupt. "Can you bring the kid over here without hurting him anymore?"

Henri looked down at the burden he cradled in his arms with such a stricken look that Simon feared the kid had died after all.

"I'm not sure it's possible to hurt a person more than this," Henri started, "at least not and leave them alive."

Brown started toward Simon, with Rafe supporting Blair's head to keep it from dangling over the other man's arm. Jim was turning paler by the second and it would probably be only a short time before he passed out too. The partners knew it was imperative that they get Blair to his friend's side before the detective tried to move again and caused more damage to himself.

So far, Jim was still sitting upright, but Simon noticed that the sentinel's grip on the handkerchief was waning. He quickly replaced Jim's hand with his own, urging, "Stay with me Jim." But the sentinel swayed until Simon moved to prop him up.

Brown gently settled Blair's battered body next to Jim; and Rafe eased the kid's head onto the lap of the barely conscious detective, repeating Simon's plea, "You stay awake Jim. Blair needs you."

Jim held Blair's head in his lap and patted haphazardly at the matted hair. "Hey Chief," he said weakly, "Hang in there buddy. We're here."

Jim felt himself slowly slipping away as femoral blood drained through Simon's fingers. The image of Blair's slack features was becoming blurry and the sentinel felt himself leaning ever more heavily on his Captain.

"We got you, Chief," Jim slurred one more assurance and then joined his friend in unconsciousness.

TBC


	7. Chapter 6

Waiting: Chapter 6

"Shit," Simon blurted as his wounded detective fell bonelessly against him. He turned to Rafe. "_Please _tell me someone has called an ambulance."

"One of the uniforms called for a second one as soon as they saw that Jim was down. " Rafe informed his captain, and then reminded him, "The one for Blair was already standing by at a safe distance just waiting for the 'all's clear'. It should be here any …"

Rafe's answer was interrupted by sounds of the approaching siren. Simon secretly wondered if Jim had heard it before he passed out – relinquishing his duty to protect his partner only after he _knew_ help was nearby.

Once the first ambulance arrived, the scene became a flurry of motion. Blair's breathing had steadily gotten worse, so that, by the time the EMT's saw him, he had top priority. "Breathing before circulation." They gently but efficiently moved him so that he was lying flat on the floor. One of the personnel not immediately involved with Sandburg had Simon remove the sodden handkerchief that he had still been pressing into Jim's leg wound, and replaced it with a roll of gauze. Before the man could accomplish much more than that, he was called back to work on the more critical patient. As Simon concentrated on his effort to dam Jim's blood with the more efficient – but still somehow lacking – material, he managed to catch the EMT's murmurs of "chest tube" and "broken jaw" and "emergency trach." But Simon tried not to think too hard about what all that might mean for the kid who had somehow wheedled his way into even the hardest of hearts at the PD.

Finally, by the time the other ambulance arrived, Sandburg was ready for transport and the first ambulance left, sirens blaring. The newly arrived personnel wasted no time in taking over Simon's job, replacing his efforts with a pressure bandage, quickly starting an IV to replenish lost fluids and whisking Jim away to join his fallen friend at the hospital.

---

The hospital. One of Simon's least favorite places to be. The only worse place he could think of was the morgue – but even then the hospital was a close second. To give it its due, at least _here_ his men had a _chance_ of surviving. How big a chance, Simon was having difficulty ascertaining.

Every visit – and there had been _way _too many of them lately – was taken up with paper work, waiting, and closed mouth nurses. And to make it worse, this was the only place Simon could think of where no matter how much he blustered, it just didn't have any affect at all. He figured that was some sort of prerequisite for working here. He could see the ad now. "Position open in local ER. Must be able to bark 'I can not reveal that information sir' repeatedly throughout a twelve hour shift, without taking a breath; and must be totally oblivious to threatening demeanors of local police captains." All of the personnel Simon had encountered so far today were certainly well qualified in those skills.

So it was that, after _four_ _hours_ of getting blisters on his backside, he still knew very little about the conditions of his men. Yes, "men", plural. Sandburg might not be a policeman, but after all of this time riding along with Jim, pulling the sentinel's fat out of the fire as often as the reverse was true, and generally just giving his all for the department, with no more pay than a smile and a thank you – and now that Simon thought about it, very rarely even _that_ much – Blair was every bit as much "Simon's man" as Jim was.

What Simon _did_ know about their conditions wouldn't fill a thimble. He knew they had Blair on a respirator and were currently in surgery repairing a list of internal injuries longer than the rap sheets of the perps they had arrested. He knew they had removed the bullet from Jim's femur and repaired Jim's femoral artery and were giving him unit after unit of blood to replace what was now drying on the warehouse floor. He knew they planned to keep the detective under light sedation until at least tomorrow so that he would lie completely still and give the tender area time to heal.

What he _didn't_ know was when they were going to repair the extensive damage done to the bone in Jim's lower leg caused by the first bullet – which had gone straight through the leg, but not before ripping through the bone. He didn't know how extensive the bone damage _was_ and when – or if – Jim would be able to go back into the field. He didn't know if Blair would even live. He didn't know if any of the damaged organs would need to be replaced. He didn't know if there would be any damage to the kid's remarkable brain, and he didn't know when – or if – the kid would wake up.

_He_ didn't know because the _doctors_ didn't know. And that made the waiting even more unbearable.

TBC


	8. Chapter 7

Waiting: Chapter 7

The doctors decreased the sedation over the night and by the next morning Jim was fully awake. Simon wasn't immediately sure whether this was a good or bad thing. Jim was still weak from the loss of blood, and he kept falling asleep, taking catnaps, throughout the day, but when he _was_ awake, he wasn't exactly congenial.

"Jim, they're not going to let you see the kid yet, so just quit your bitching," Simon was already nearing the end of his patience with the sentinel.

"Just for ten minutes…" Jim all but whined, "…just a peak! I need to know he's okay!"

"I _told _you he was holding his own," Simon repeated. "He's still on the respirator, but his internal organs were reparable - not nearly as much damage in there as the doctors had feared. They've got his ribs repaired and his head stitched. The only thing they're worried about now is possible brain damage." Jim's eyes got worried - almost panicked. "They said there's none showing up on the MRI, so they don't _think_ there will be any, but they won't know for sure until he wakes up."

Jim calmed down a little but restated, "I _still _want to see him."

"And I still want you to give it a rest, but it doesn't look like either of us is going to get our wish anytime soon."

Jim 'harrumphed' but otherwise remained silent. Simon decided a sulk was better than a pout, and changed the subject.

"Sara got the judge to postpone the Thompson trial until you get out of here." Simon hoped a little good news would brighten Jim's disposition a little. So far it didn't seem to be working, so Simon upped the ante. "We think we'll be able to get him for more than the child murders now." Simon moved to the window to have something to look at other than Jim's surly face. "Captain Courageous – as Brown calls the guy – was quick to roll over on Thompson and the other kidnappers, in exchange for a plea bargain. Turns out the coward was the gunman's little brother. He says he didn't want to be there in the first place and all he ever did was run the camera. Gunman and mechanical voice were one in the same and pretty much the brains of the operation. The fourth kidnapper was the driver. We tracked him down and he's singing like a bird, saying pretty much the same thing as Mr. Courage. The guy you shot is trying for a plea bargain for giving up Thompson, but, considering he was one of the men that actually beat the shit out of Blair, hell will freeze over first, if I have anything to do with it. We don't need him, anyway. Thompson's going down for this. They're all going to pay for what they did to Sandburg, Jim." Simon finally realized that that was much longer than he was usually allowed to talk without interruptions from Jim, so he repeated, "Jim?" as he turned toward the bed.

The doctors had said this might happen all day long – maybe even tomorrow too – but it was getting damned irritating. Jim was sound asleep.

----

Ellison alternated between 'awake and grouchy' or 'out cold' for the rest of the day. The doctors had been keeping an eye on the stitches in Jim's upper leg and came in late in the evening to check one more time before capitulating and allowing the detective to see his partner. Jim was asleep, having finally given in and accepting pain medication. They all decided to let sleeping grumps lie.

----

The first thing the next morning, Jim insisted on being taken to Blair's ICU room. The doctor decided the entire nursing staff may walk out, en mass, if they had to listen to one more second of Jim's complaining, so he gave Jim his ten minutes. The detective pulled his robe around his shoulders and tolerated being lifted into the wheelchair by two orderlies. One of stipulations of the visit…can't bear any weight on the injured leg. The reconstructive work would be done on the lower leg tomorrow, and they didn't want him messing it up any more than it already was.

So, there Jim sat, finally, at the bedside of his closest friend - the friend that was here because of him – and waited for him to wake up.

Finally the silence got to be too much for Jim. "Come on Chief," Jim pleaded. "Show me those baby blues…just for a second."

Blair didn't respond, so Jim waited for a minute or two, in silence again, holding Blair's hand to let him know someone was there. Then, "Oh come on, Blair," Jim tried again. "Wake up and yell at me for not getting there sooner!" Nothing. "Wake up and complain that they had to cut your hair on one side." Still nothing. "Wake up and tell me about all the mileage you're going to get from the bruises and scars with all the pretty nurses." Blair slept peacefully on. "Chief, come on…just wake up."

Jim's time was almost up when he finally felt just the tiniest movement of Blair's hand in his. He looked up and said, "Blair?" Jim could see, under the kid's heavy lashes, a nearly imperceptible sliver of blue. "That's it Darwin; let me see those eyes." If Jim hadn't been a sentinel, he would have missed the tiny additional opening of eyelids before they finally went slack, as did the hand that Jim was holding. "I'll take it, buddy." Jim was irrationally pleased with just this tiny progress. "You did good. I'll be here as often as they let me, Chief, and when you wake up again, I'll be right here…waiting."

End


End file.
